New Website Relaunch BONUS With Monthly Media Player Giveaway

To celebrate the relaunch of our incredible new website, we are giving away some incredible new prizes! Once a month for an entire year, Heads Up will randomly draw the name of a member from our mailing list to receive one of the following portable CD/DVD/MP3 Media Players from Media Street.

eMotion PMP DVD 3.5" Personal Media & DVD Player

APPLICATIONS
The eMotion PMP DVD Personal Media Player has the best of both DVD player and PMP. As a PMP, it plays multimedia content downloaded from the computer through its memory card reader and USB slot. As a DVD player, it plays the off-the-shelf DVD/CD titles. Our DVD-PMP plays DVD, VCD, DivX/MPEG 4 for video and DVD Audio/CD/MP3/WMA for audio.

KEY FEATURES:
• Plays Slideshow from your Digital Camera Cards
• Plays your DVDs, VCDs, home movies and CDs
• Plays your Music: MP3 & WMA files
• The Most Compact and Attractive Portable DVD Player
• Built-in 3.5” TFT LCD; flips open.
• Remote Control operated and buttons on unit
• Rechargeable Battery: 2.5 hours of play
• Audio Video Out
• Built-in USB 2.0 port
• Built-in 3-in-1 Camera Card Slot


For more information and specifications on the media players click here.


To enter the Monthly Media Player Giveaway Click Here


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HEADS UP INTERNATIONAL SIGNS CONTEMPORARY JAZZ SUPERGROUP FOURPLAY

February 4, 2008, Cleveland, OH – Heads Up International, one of the world’s premier crossover jazz labels and a division of the Concord Music Group, today announced the signing of an exclusive recording agreement with Fourplay, the innovative quartet that has maintained a consistent presence on the cutting edge of contemporary jazz since their inception more than 15 years ago. Fourplay will make their Heads Up debut with a yet-to-be-titled album scheduled for release in summer 2008.

Fourplay, whose current lineup consists of keyboardist Bob James, bassist Nathan East, guitarist Larry Carlton and drummer Harvey Mason, has enjoyed consistent artistic and commercial success by grafting elements of R&B and pop to their unwavering jazz foundations. In a span of seventeen years and ten albums, the quartet has continued to explore the limitless dimensions and permutations of jazz while at the same time appealing to a broad mainstream audience.

“Fourplay has been a formidable and high-profile entity in contemporary jazz for almost two decades, with a track record of musical innovation that speaks for itself,” says Dave Love, President of Heads Up International. “Each artist in the band’s lineup is an immense talent in his own right, but the synergy of all four players adds up to an even greater whole. We’re very excited to have them on the Heads Up roster, and we’re very much looking forward to a great record this year.

Bob James, a founding member of the group, echoes Love’s optimism for a prolific partnership between band and label. “We’re very happy with the enthusiasm that’s been demonstrated by the Heads Up team,” says James. “It’s up to us now as a band to create music that will justify the excitement that everyone is feeling about this partnership. That’s a challenge that we take very seriously, but it’s a challenge that we welcome with every new record we make.”

Nathan East sees independent labels like Heads Up as the place to be, given the current record industry climate. “While the major labels are trying to keep the ‘record business’ alive, the indies are doing a better job at keeping the ‘music business’ alive. The independents seem to be able to offer a more hands-on approach than the majors, which is definitely a benefit to the artist.”

Harvey Mason agrees that the industry has entered an era where joining an independent label is a smart move: “Fourplay is very excited about the fresh opportunities that abound in these transitional times in the music industry,” he says. “We look forward to partnering with Heads Up as a means to build on the Fourplay brand which has proudly existed for twenty years.”

While the exact direction of Fourplay’s Heads Up debut has yet to be determined, Larry Carlton promises that the band’s maiden voyage with the label “will be a continuation in the growth of the Fourplay sound. We look forward to delivering the next chapter in the Fourplay story and having Heads Up deliver it to the world.”

“We’ve set a high standard for ourselves in almost two decades of making records together as Fourplay,” says East. “I look forward to making an adventurous, classy and soul-filled record that showcases our talents individually and collectively. Until the last note is played, it’s hard to predict the exact direction. That’s what we love about jazz – the improvisation that happens in the moment. That’s a concept that Heads Up completely understands.”


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HEADS UP INTERNATIONAL SIGNS A CAPPELLA JAZZ LEGENDS TAKE 6

New Album Includes Guests Aaron Neville, And Others; Set For Release In August 2008

December 14, 2007, Cleveland, OH – Heads Up International, one of the world’s premier crossover jazz labels, today announced the signing of an exclusive recording agreement with the a cappella jazz group Take 6. Heirs to the rich tradition of the doo-wop and gospel groups of 1950s, and leaders in the second wave of jazz and pop vocal groups that emerged in the 1990s, Take 6 will make their Heads Up debut with a yet-to-be-titled album of jazz standards and originals scheduled for release in August 2008.

“Take 6 is arguably the greatest a cappella jazz group of all time,” says Dave Love, President of Heads Up International. “For the past twenty years, they’ve proven their vocal mastery in a variety of genres and they’ve worked with some of the biggest names in jazz and R&B. Musically and spiritually, they’ve enriched the lives of every person they’ve come in contact with. We are excited and very proud to count them among the Heads Up ranks.”

“We’re very excited as a group to be part of Heads Up,” says Take 6 co-founder Claude McKnight. “We’re very ready to move into this next phase of our career. We were with a major label for a long time, then we were on our own for a while with our own company. Now, Heads Up is helping us with all aspects of our career. We’ll be exploring not just our spiritual side, which we’ve always done, but also more of our jazz side as well.”

“When we hooked up with Dave Love, his appreciation and enthusiasm for what we do was evident from the very beginning,” says Take 6 member Dave Thomas. “We knew right away that it was going to be a great partnership. Heads Up has such an enthusiastic team that’s ready to promote the thing we do best. This is the story of two of the best coming together.”

Formed in Alabama in the early ‘80s, Take 6 launched their career by singing traditional spirituals and newly composed gospel material. They released their self-titled debut album on Warner Brothers’ Reprise label in 1988, and spent the next two decades crafting a series of records that defied easy categorization but instead embraced a broad cross-section of styles – soul, gospel, R&B, pop, jazz and more. Although they have enlisted the help of session musicians along the way, the greatest strength of their recordings has been – and continues to be – their richly layered and masterful vocal harmonies.

The group has set the bar high for their Heads Up debut, which will include guest appearances by R&B legend Aaron Neville and others. “While we sing lyrics that always exemplify our spiritual and moral convictions, what we really are at the core is a jazz vocal group,” says Thomas. “So we’ve decided to do an album of jazz standards, and make it the vocal jazz album for all time.”

Claude McKnight stands behind the ambitious claim. “We go into every project saying it will be the best,” he says. “At least the best we’ve ever done, and depending on the concept or the genre, it may in fact be the best that’s ever been done by anyone. When we take on a project or step into a new phase of our career, we’re not afraid to say, ‘Hey, let’s move some mountains.’”


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HEADS UP INTERNATIONAL SIGNS BASSIST/VOCALIST/COMPOSER ESPERANZA SPALDING

November 26, 2007, Cleveland, OH – Heads Up International, one of the world’s premier crossover jazz labels, today announced the signing of an exclusive recording agreement with acoustic bassist, singer and composer Esperanza Spalding, whose international debut recording for the label will be released in late spring 2008.

According to Ben Ratliff of The New York Times, “Her musicality is all integrated: The Esperanza Spalding experience is light, melodic, joyful, always sort of minimalist and airborne.”

“I am very excited about working with Esperanza. She is a wonderful young person with so many gifts. She can deliver a song in three languages and her bass playing is at a very high level.” says Dave Love, President of Heads Up International. “I am certain that audiences worldwide will be captivated by her. It’s no easy task to sing sweet melodies and hold down a solid bass line at the same time. She does this so effortlessly.”

“I am honored to be working with a record label that is still devoted to maintaining the creative integrity of the artist, and unafraid to make a bold step to do something new in the music business,” Spalding says. “True innovation and even inspiration are impossible in music if the artists have no control over their own craft. Seeing that Heads Up recognizes this, gives me hope that the recording industry still has respect for music as an artform.”

Born in 1984, Spalding was only 15 years old when she entered the world of the working musician at a Portland, Oregon, blues club. Within a year, she was gigging as a bassist and/or vocalist with different groups throughout the Portland area, including two jazz septets, a trio, and a fusion group called Noise for Pretend that released two well-received albums on the independent label Hush Records.

She is the 2005 recipient of the prestigious Boston Jazz Society scholarship for outstanding musicianship. Spalding holds a B.M. from Berklee College of Music, where she also enjoys the status as the youngest faculty member ever in the history of the College.

Spalding has worked with many notable artists, including pianist Michel Camilo, vibraphonist Dave Samuels, bassist Stanley Clarke, saxophonist Joe Lovano, violinist Regina Carter, guitarist Pat Metheny and singer Patti Austin.

Photographer’s Credit: Youri Lenquette


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HEADS UP INTERNATIONAL SIGNS JAZZ/R&B/FUNK LEGEND GEORGE DUKE

November 30, 2007, Cleveland, OH – Heads Up International, one of the world’s premier crossover jazz labels, today announced the signing of an exclusive recording agreement with keyboardist/composer George Duke and his Big Piano Music record label. An enduring figure in straightahead jazz, jazz fusion, R&B and funk since the 1960s, Duke will make his Heads Up debut with a yet-to-be-titled album scheduled for release in September 2008.

The scope of George Duke’s imprint on jazz and pop music over the past forty years is almost impossible to calculate. Duke has collaborated with some of the most prominent figures in the industry. A producer since the 1980s, he has crafted scores of fine recordings – many of them GRAMMY winners – for artists representing almost every corner of the contemporary American music landscape.

“I’m very excited to have George on board,” says Dave Love, President of Heads Up International. “He brings with him a lifetime of innovation and excellence, and a resume that includes collaborations with some of the biggest names in jazz, funk, rock and pop. There’s an unprecedented artistic synergy at Heads Up, thanks to the many high-profile artists currently on the label, and George’s presence and contribution is certain to push that synergy to an even greater intensity.”

“I’m very happy to be part of this new association with Heads Up,” says Duke, who is currently in the studio crafting the new album. “There’s a huge audience that’s interested in the music of more mature artists, and music that has a little more depth than what you might find elsewhere. I look forward to working with Dave and his team on all of the productions for BPM as I believe that’s what Heads Up is all about.”

George Duke entered the jazz scene in the 1960s as a pianist in a straightahead trio in San Francisco. By the end of the decade, he had begun exploring more progressive avenues by recording with the likes of Jean-Luc Ponty and Frank Zappa. In the ‘70s, he worked with an array of artists: Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Rollins, Billy Cobham, Michael Jackson, Stanley Clarke and many others. By the ‘80s, he had shifted his emphasis to producing – Dee Dee Bridgewater, Melissa Manchester, Take 6, Anita Baker, Natalie Cole and more – yet still maintained a solo discography of his own. He has also composed music for numerous motion picture and television projects, and has maintained a consistent presence on the Billboard charts since the mid-‘70s. He has scored six GRAMMY nominations for solo recordings, and has produced numerous albums for other artists that have been GRAMMY winners.

His debut on Heads Up promises to be a return to the funk sensibilities he originally explored in the late ‘70s – the kind that successfully combined energy, fun and thematic substance. To date, the guest list includes Bootsy Collins, Jill Scott, Howard Hewett and Teena Marie. Additional high-profile funksters – old-school and newcomer alike – are likely to get on board before the sessions are complete.

“This is probably going to be the biggest record I’ve done in a long time,” Duke predicts. “I’m trying to get back to the kind of message that was being delivered in the ‘60s. If you look back at Sly Stone or James Brown, those guys delivered positive, uplifting messages. That’s what this record will be about. There will be some political statements made, some other issues addressed, but all in a positive way. I really want this to be a record that people love.”


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